Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy on Feb. 11, 2013, the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.

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Pope in the Middle East

Pope Benedict XVI, left, greets Patriarch Bechara el-Rai, the head of Lebanon's Maronite church, during a mass on the waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012. The Pope celebrated an open-air Mass for tens of thousands of pilgrims from across the Middle East, saying Christians must do their part to end the "grim trail of death and destruction" in the region. "I appeal to you all to be peacemakers," Benedict said.